Bottle-feeding mechanism.



E. E. WINKLEY.

BOTTLE FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-14.19l4.

Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET1.

WITNESSES Jim 2" E. E. WINKLEY.

BOTTLE FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-14.19I4

1 %78,%7%o Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

NVENTDR @FFEQE.

ERAS'I'US E. WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOTTLE-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1Q, 1918.

Application filed September 14, 1914. Serial 1i 0. 861,595.

conveyer mechanism and more particularly to an improved mechanism ofthis type employed for feeding bottles.

In connection with the automatic transferring of bottles from thefilling to the cappin machine as disclosed in. the patent to Wilfidey,No. 1,216,036, dated February 13, 1917, it has been found that undercertain conditions the bottles are not fed properly to the cappinmachine. In this construction the bott es are discharged from thefilling machine into a runway and are bottles. 1 The object of thepresent invention is to pushed along the runway until each-bottle isengaged by a rotating star wheel and fed to the capping machine. As thepassage of the bottles through the runway is effected by each bottledischarged from thefilling machine the entire row of bottles engage withone another and if the bottles vary in size they are positioned atirregular intervals and may be so located that the star Wheel is unableto engage properly with a bottle and feed it to the capping machine,which frequently causes the clogging of the runway and a possiblebreakage o the provide an improved form of bottle feeding mechanismwhich receives the bottles at the discharging point and feeds them atuniform intervals to the feeding mechanism, which i then removes themfrom the conveyor Without liability of breaking the bottles or cloggingthe conveyer during the operation of the mechanism. With this object inview the several features of the invention consist in certam novelfeatures of construction,

combinations and arrangements of parts, the advantages of which will beobvious to those skilled in the art scription.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of theinvention; Figure "1 represents a plan view of the im- 'from thefollowing deproved conveyer mechanism; Fig. 2 is a right hand sideelevation partly in section of the conveyer mechanism; Fig. 3 is an endelevation partly in section of the mechanism shown, in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 isa detail illustrating a partial plan view of the conveyer mechanism u onan enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a detail il ustrating an end elevation ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 4:; and Fig. 6 is a detail showing a sideelevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the bottles aredischarged from the filling machine into a runway indicated at 1 and arepositioned upon the runway at regular intervals and fed along the runwayuntil they reach a receiving star wheel 2 which feeds them to thecapping machine in the usual manner. In the present invention thepositioning and feeding of the bottles at regular intervals isconveniently accomplished by a series of feeding fingers which arepositioned equi-distant from'one another upon a conveyer member and-arearranged to engage behind each bottle to feed it along therunway. Withthis construction therear faces of the bottles which are engaged by thestarwheel 2 are always positioned at the same distance from one anotherirrespective of the diameter of the bottle, As the bottles are initiallypositioned in the runway more or less irregularly, depending upon theirsize, the feeding fingers have a yielding bottle engaging movement andare arranged to pass by the'bottle if any substantial resistance isencountered, thus'preventing the jamming of the bottles between thefingers and the side of the raceway. In order to insure thepositivefeeding of each. bottle,

erly. by the feedingfinger apositive bott feedingmovement is imparted tothe finhowever, after it hasv been engaged propger, and mechanism isprovided for reveyer 4 which is guided about the sprocket wheels 5 and6, respectively. Each finger is fulcrumed upon the conveyer at 7 and isprovided with an outwardly projectin face '8 arranged to engage with thebot e, as shown clearly in Fig. 5. Referring to Fig,

4, as the conveyor passes about the sprocket 5 and prior to thebottleengaging move-- ment the fingers are normally retained in a.

retracted position by the engagement of the outer end of the face 8 witha curved guide plate 10 which extends in the direction of travel of theconveyer until a point is reached at which the fingers are to be movedoutwardly to engage with the bottles. The

bottle engaging movement is imparted to the fingers by a cam member 11,the face of which engages with a cam roll 12 journaled at the bend ofthe finger 3, as shown clearly in Fig. 5. The passage of the fingeralong the cam 11 causes it to swing outwardly into a bottle engagingposition and after engaging with the bottle to feed it along in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 4. As the bottles are positioned somewhatirregularly it may happen that under certain conditions the fingerduring the bottle engaging movement will engage with the side of thebottle and tend to cramp it against the opposite side of the runwayrather than to feed it forward in the direction of the arrow. In casethis occurs the fin er is arranged to yield inwardly and pass y thebottle without exerting a sufficient pressure upon the bottle tobreak itor clamp it against the side of the raceway. To this end the cam 11 isfulcrumed at 14 and is normally retained in the position shown in Fig. 4by a spring 15 surrounding a rod 16 which is pivoted at 17 and isloosely received at its opposite end in a recess formed in the cammember 11. As the spring 15 is arranged to exert only a light pressureupon the cam this construc tion permits the cam member to swingrearwardly if a comparatively small pressure is exerted upon the end ofthe finger 3. In addition to permitting a yielding movement of thefeeding finger 3 if the bottle is not engaged properly it is desirableto lock the finger in bottle engaging position in order to insure thepositive feeding thereof if the bottle is engaged properly. To this end,as the feeding finger passes around the sprocket 5 the under side of thecam roll 12 engages with and rides up on the beveled end of a cam table13. The table 13 is hinged at 19 upon a shaft 18 and is normallymaintained in an elevated position by a coil spring 20' surrounding theshaft and engaging respectively with the frame and the under side of thetable at its opposite ends, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. As the feedingfinger passes about the sprocket wheel it rides up on the beveledsurface'of the table and gradually same time is moved outwardly towardthe edge of the table by the cam member 11. If the cam member 11 isswung rearwardly owing to the exerting of an undue pressure upon thefeeding finger, the finger does not pass ofi of the edge of the tableand maintains the table in a depressed position, but on the other hand,if the bottle is engaged properly and the feeding finger is swungdepresses the table and at the naraava outwardly to the full extent .ofits movement it passes beyond the edge of the table, as shown in Fig. 4,allowing an upward movement of the table to a position behind the camroll. In this position the feeding finger is guided in its furthermovement by p the edge 21 of the table 13 until the cam roll engageswith a fixed guide plate 22 which serves to maintain the fingers in theproper operative relation to the table during their movement through therunway. In order to facilitate the passage of the finger by the bottleif the latter is not engaged properly, the cam member 11 is providedwith a depression 24 which permits the inward movement of the fingerwithout the necessity for compressing the spring 15 to an undue extent.This mechanism serves to feed the bottles to the receiving star wheel 2at uni-y form intervals and after each bottle has been received by thestar wheel the feeding finger is engaged by a stationarycam rib 25 andswung back into inoperative position, shown in Fig. l, in which it isretained by the guide member 26 until again moved outwardly into bottleengaging position by the cam member 11.

' The conveyer mechanism is conveniently operated by a drive chain 27passing respectively about the drive sprocket 28 and driven I chineframe and is secured to the lower end of a shaft 32 having a spur gear33 mountedupon the upper end which meshes with a driving gear 34actuated in a suitable manner. The drive chain 27 is maintained in ataut condition by an idler sprocket 35 journaled upon the bracket 31 andheld against the drive chain 27 in any suitable manner. The mechanismfor actuating the conveyer is operated in timed relation to themechanism for operating the filling and capping machines, and as it isobvious that this may be done in any suitable manner it has not beendescribed herein in detail.

While it is preferred, to employ the specific construction andarrangement of parts shown and described, it will be'understood thatthis construction and arran ement is not essential except so far asspeci ed in the claims, and may be changed or modified without departingfrom the broader features of the invention.

Theinvention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a series of feeding fingers,and mecha nism for imparting a yielding bottle en-' gaging movement tothe fingers and for positively retaining the fingers in contact with thebottles afterengagement therewith.

2. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer continuously movingalong a runway, a series of fingers carried by the conveyer, means fornormally causing the fingers to engage and feed bottles along therunway, and means for permitting the fingers to be retracted and pass bya bottle if the latter is cramped in the runway.

3. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer, a finger supportedupon the conveyer in a retracted position, a cam engaging with thefinger and arranged to move the finger outwardly into a bottle engagingposition, and means for yieldingly supporting the cam.

4. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a runway, a conveyer movingalong the runway, feeding fingers supported by the conveyer, yieldingmechanism for moving the feeding fingers relative to the conveyer into abottle engaging position upon passage of the fingers into the runway,and means for retracting the fingers relative to the conveyer after thefingers have passed through the runway.

5. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer, a feeding fingerfulcrumed upon the conveyer, mechanism for actuating the conveyer, a cammember arranged to swing the finger outwardly about the fulcrum as thefinger passes thereby, and means for yieldingly retaining the cam memberin an operative position.

6. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a bottle feeding finger, meansfor yieldingly moving the finger into a bottle engaging position, andmeans acting only when the finger is moved to bottle engaging positionto positively hold the finger in the position into which it is moved.

7. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer, a finger supportedupon the conveyer, mechanism for actuating the conveyer, a cam tablearranged to be depressed by the finger as it passes thereover, and meansfor moving the finger outwardly to ward the edge of the table as theconveyer is actuated.

8. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer, a curved fingerfulcrumed at one end upon the conveyer, a cam member yieldinglysupported in an operative position and arranged to swing the fingeroutwardly as the conveyer is actuated, and a cam table normally retainedin an elevated position and arranged to be depressed by the finger as itpasses thereover.

9. A bottle feeding mechanism comprising a conveyer, a bottle engagingfinger fulcrumed upon the conveyer, acam member arranged to engage withthe finger and swing it outwardly into bottle engaging position having arecessed portion to permit passage of the finger by a bottle, and meansfor yieldingly retaining the cam member in operative position.

10. A bottle feeding mechanism compris-- ing a conveyer, mechanism foractuating the conveyer, a finger fulcrumed upon the conveyer, yieldingmechanism for swinging the finger outwardly with relation to theconveyer, and means constructed and arranged to positively retain thefinger in its outward position when the finger is swung outwardly to apredetermined point.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM HELMER, FRED V. HART.

